Though the budget enacted by Congress will no doubt differ from the administration’s budget, these recommendations from the Federal Transit Administration are significant. Many of the projects on last year’s list are now under construction.

Here’s a look at what’s in line for federal funding, starting with the list of grants for large expansion projects from the FTA’s “New Starts” program.

Major projects recommended for funding:

Los Angeles’ Westside Subway Extension, Section 2 — $100 million

San Diego’s Midcoast Corridor — $150 million

Denver’s Southeast Extension –$92 million

Baltimore Red Line — $100 million

Maryland Purple Line (Suburban D.C.) — $100 million

Minneapolis’ Southwest Light Rail — $150 million

Fort Worth’s TEX commuter Rail — $100 million

The big drama right now surrounds the Purple and Red line projects in Maryland, where newly elected Republican Governor Larry Hogan has threatened to cut off state support for the new transit lines if private partners don’t cover enough of the construction costs.

A second list of smaller projects in mid-sized cities are in line for funding from the FTA’s “Small Starts” program.

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Sprawl and big money prevailed over progress last night in Fresno. The City Council dealt a major blow to local plans for smart planning and bus rapid transit, but stopped short of killing the project completely.

Fresno City Council members caved to specious arguments about BRT, delaying the project. Image: Fresno Bee

About $50 million in federal and state grants have been secured to build a bus rapid transit system and operate it for the first three years. But council members — voting 4-3 not to fund the final design phases and hire a project manager — moved to delay the project indefinitely.

The council did vote 7-0 to adopt a state requirement that the project would not negatively impact the environment. That left the door open for it to continue, but it’s possible the Federal Transit Administration will yank $38 million if major changes are made to the agreement.

Council members indicated they expected the project to come back before them, according to the Fresno Bee. But Christine Barker of Flare Together, an organization representing residents of south Frenso, said she expects the next iteration would be lower quality, if it is approved.

The route already barely qualified as bus rapid transit under federal regulations, as it had almost no dedicated right-of-way. The system would have included some prioritization for buses at stop lights, off-board payment and real-time travel information at enhanced bus shelters, as well as frequent service along important east-west and north-south routes.

Will Fresno City Council pull the plug on bus rapid transit before it even starts? Photo: Fresno Bee

The city of Fresno, California, is a sprawling place, not known for having a strong transit system. But it’s been making big strides. Last year, this city of 500,000 passed a “general plan” that called for 45 percent of new development to be “infill,” or built in already developed areas.

The plan relies on beefing up transit service as well. The proposal the city settled on calls for two bus rapid transit lines — one running north-south and the other running east-west. About 60,000 people make their homes within a quarter mile of the proposed routes. Fresno was able to win some $50 million to make it happen, as well, thanks to a federal Small Starts grant and state environmental grants.

The city’s major real estate developers, however, never liked the proposal to limit sprawl, and now they’re threatening to derail BRT and the general plan. Those plans — representing almost $60 million in spending — are on the line in a City Council vote tomorrow. Will local officials vote to proceed with the BRT proposal, as required by state law?

Christine Baker is a coordinator with a group called FLARE Together — Fresno Leaders Advocating Regionally for Equity. She said city government could go either way. In their opposition campaign, local real estate developers have teamed up with the Tea Party and the Amalgamated Transit Union, whose local leader is allied with Tea Party groups, Baker said. “We have a local PAC that has been running fear mongering ads on local conservative talk radio: ‘If BRT is approved crime will increase in Riverpark,'” a shopping center.

If the city refuses to support BRT, it will lose the $50 million in funding — which included three years of operating money — as well as some $7 million that was spent developing the general plan. Plus, it will cost millions to develop a new plan.

“There’s no rational argument against it at this point,” said Baker. “It’s just all out war.”

In a move to help buoy crisis-stricken cities, the Obama Administration this week introduced a program designed to provide administrative support to help local government officials “cut through the red tape” and access urgent federal assistance.

“Strong Cities, Strong Communities” will offer expert technical support — but not additional funding — in the areas of jobs, housing, transportation, the environment, education and economic development to cities that are suffering the staggering effects of economic displacement or natural disaster.

Memphis, New Orleans, Detroit, Cleveland, Fresno and Chester, Pennsylvania were chosen to pilot the program, which begins immediately.

Pilot cities will receive assistance from a team of mid-career federal administrators from a variety of agencies. The goal is to not only help these cities take better advantage of existing federal programs, but also to secure additional investment from the private sector and wider community.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan told the Wall Street Journal that the program was inspired by difficulties experienced in the city of Detroit as it struggles to implement its Detroit Works blueprint for revitalization. Federal officials observed that complicated federal regulations and the difficulty of accessing federal officials were a major stumbling block in the city’s recovery efforts.

“We found they had millions in federal block grants that they either were not using or not using in the best way,” Donovan said.